One of the major surprises of Microsoft's introduction of HoloLens 2 was the brief appearance of Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, a veteran critic of Microsoft. After a few years fighting against Microsoft's position on open platforms, Sweeney finally praises it.

Alex Kipman, a Microsoft technical officer, said at the Mobile World Congress at HoloLens 2 that he had the honor to introduce an "industry personality", tell us about his dreams of mixed reality. "

Sweeney usually gets going when talking about Microsoft. However, at the event, Sweeney was breathless and said, "Epic Games and Microsoft have been close partners for over 25 years. We've helped shape the industry with DirectX and Unreal, Xbox and Gears of War, and recently opened Fortnite with Crossplay for seven device families.

And now Sweeney said they were working together on a new generation of technology, Augmented Reality and HoloLens 2.

"I believe AR will be the future's most important platform for work and entertainment," said Sweeney. "And AR will play such an infinite role in our lives that we must set clear ground rules to respect the rights of all. This means an open platform and open ecosystems and safeguards that put the privacy of users first. This is where Microsoft starts today. Therefore, Epic will fully support Microsoft's HoloLens strategy now and in the long term.

HoloLens Support is now available on the Unreal Engine and will be available to all developers in May.

"Although I'm not here today announcing a game, I'm here to announce that Epic will support HoloLens in all our efforts," said Sweeney. "We will support HoloLens as an open platform and resist attempts to build walled gardens in our lives."

These words represent a major thaw in the frosty relationship between Microsoft and Sweeney.

But Sweeney Did This Mention nothing that has been a sore spot among Microsoft's own employees: a US $ 480 million US military deal on the use of HoloLens technology for military purposes. This is a use of AR that is unlikely to be allowed due to the ethics rules adopted by Microsoft's rival Magic Leap, based on our interview with Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz.